Bridget Bishop

Bridget Bishop

Bridget Bishop (ca. 1632, England – 10 June 1692 Salem, Massachusetts) was the first person executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692. All together about 72 people were accused and tried.

Recent historical interpretation: "A resident of Salem Town"

Bridget Bishop may have been a resident of Salem Town, not Salem Village, where the allegations started.^{[citation needed]} Perhaps she was previously confused with another alleged witch, Sarah Bishop of Salem Village.^{[citation needed]} However she may have been accused because she owned one or more taverns, played shuffleboard, dressed in provocative clothing, and was outspoken.^[1] One interpretation of the historical record suggests that she was a resident of Salem Town and thus not the tavern owner. Perhaps she did not know her accusers. This would be supported in her deposition in Salem Village before the authorities stating, "I never saw these persons before, nor I never was in this place before."^[2] The indictments against her clearly note that she was from "Salem"^[3] which meant Salem Town, as other indictments against residents of Salem Village specified their locations as such.^[4]

In the transcripts there is some indication of confusion between Sarah Bishop, wife of a tavern owner in Salem Village, and Bridget Bishop, not a tavern owner and a resident of Salem Town.

Family

Bridget's maiden name seems to have been Playfer (not Manges).^{[citation needed]} She had one daughter from her marriage to Thomas Oliver, named Christian Oliver (sometimes spelled Chrestian), born May 8, 1667.^{[citation needed]}

She was married three times:

She married her first husband Samuel Wesselbe on April 13, 1660, at St. Mary-in-the-Marsh, Norwich, Norfolk, England.^[5]

Her second marriage on 26 July 1666 ^[6] was to Thomas Oliver, a widower and prominent businessman. She was earlier accused of bewitching Thomas Oliver to death, but was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Her last marriage circa 1687 was to Edward Bishop, a prosperous sawyer, whose family lived in Beverly.^{[citation needed]}

Nature of allegations

Bishop was accused of bewitching five young women, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, Jr., Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, and Elizabeth Hubbard, on the date of her examination by the authorities, 19 April 1692.

William Stacy, a middle aged man in Salem Town, testified that Bishop had previously made statements to him that other people in the town considered her to be a witch. And when he confronted her with the allegation that she was using witchcraft to torment him, which she denied.

Another local man, Samuel Shattuck, accused Bishop of bewitching his child and also of striking his son with a spade. He also testified that Bishop asked him to dye lace, which apparently was too small to be used on anything but a poppet (doll used in spell-casting).

John and William Bly, father and son, testified about finding poppets in Bishop's house and also about their pig that appeared to be bewitched, or poisoned, after a dispute with Bishop.

References

Further reading

• Boyer, Paul S.; Nissenbaum, Stephen (1976). Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Boston: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674785267. 
• Cooke, William H. (2009). Justice at Salem. Undertaker Press. 
• Goss, K. David (2007). The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide. Greenwood. ISBN 0-313-32095-0. 
• Hill, Francis (2000). The Salem Witch Trials Reader. Da Capo Press. 
• Karlsen, Carol F. (1998). The Devil in the Shape of a Woman. WW Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393317596. 
• Rosenthal, Bernard (1993). Salem Story: reading the witch trials of 1692. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521558204. 
• Savage, James (1860). A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England. Boston, MA: Little Brown & Co. 
• Upham, Charles (1980). Salem Witchcraft: Volume I. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. pp. 143, 191–7. 
• Upham, Charles (1980). Salem Witchcraft: Volume II. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. pp. 114, 125–8, 253, 256–7, 463. 
• Wilson, Jennifer M. (2005). Witch. ISBN 1-4208-2109-1. 
• Vital Records of the Town of Salem. Salem, MA: Essex Institute. 1924. 
• The Salem Witchcraft Papers on Bridget Bishop